


It All Started With a Paperclip

by Ladyspirkis4life97



Category: South Park
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Bonding, Fluff, Gen, Kenny is mentioned, Kyle and Cartman centric, Kymanweek2020, Office Pranks, Over use of the word paperclips, Plot Devices, Strangers to Friends, The start of something more perhaps, Undercurrent of Kyman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:13:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25099705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladyspirkis4life97/pseuds/Ladyspirkis4life97
Summary: Kyle is a perfectionist to his core and is, in his opinion, rightfully pissed when his cocky coworker sabotages his folder and demands that he reorganized it. Little did Kyle know that with one paperclip he was going to have a different week then he would normally at the office.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	It All Started With a Paperclip

**Author's Note:**

> KymanWeek 2020 Office AU! I had so much fun with this prompt and will honestly probably visit it later. This is unbetaed and I took some liberties with the two characters and yes I did reference a vine in here. Please enjoy :)

Kyle was sitting at his desk typing a report when a folder was slammed onto his desk. Kyle looked up and glared at the person above him, brown eyes filled with laughter and a smirk on his face the brunet said: “I need these in order, Mr. Steinback couldn’t locate anything in there.”

“That’s preposterous I used like five paper clips just to hold everything together.” Still, he opened up the folder and widened his eyes whirling in his chair to glare at Cartman pointing an accusing finger at him. “Where are my paper clips? You took them off and messed with the filing before handing it to the boss didn’t you!” 

Cartman did his best woe is me act and one of their coworkers said “Broflovski you made a mistake own up to it and stop blaming Eric.”

“Thank you, Rosa, did you enjoy the tea I got you?”

“Oh it was lovely Eric, it warmed my joints up and helped soothe the pain.”

“Glad to hear it!” Cartman exclaimed with a warm smile but when he looked at Kyle it turned into a vipers as he said “Get that folder on Mr. Steinback's desk before we leave, and don’t mess up this time.” He left with a patronizing squeeze on Kyle’s shoulder as Kyle was left fuming, reordering the file he had painstakingly ordered for two hours before he came into work. That was the first time they met but it wouldn’t be the last time they crossed paths and all it took, was a paperclip.

The next day Kyle was chatting with his cubicle neighbor, Tim, who didn’t believe Cartman’s good guy act for one minute when all of a sudden Kyle was hit in the cheek with something. He looked down and noticed a paper clip lying innocently on his desk and he glared up, immediately seeking out Cartman’s desk who had the audacity to wave and wink. Kyle threw the paper clip back, smiling in victory when all of a sudden Mr. Stienback appeared out of nowhere and bam right in the nose went the paper clip. Cartman was behind Mr. Stienback and was covering up his smile while he chuckled lowly as Kyle sat there frozen in shock. Unbelievably Mr. Steinback just said “Whoever threw that paper clip, your moms a hoe,” then continued to walk on by. Once he was gone the office was filled with laughter and even Kyle had to laugh a little as he breathed in and out trying to recover after holding his breath for so long and he caught Cartman’s eye across from the desk and felt his face warm as Cartman gave him a thumbs up.

The third day at the office Kyle was ready for Cartman’s paperclip shenanigans. He was on his guard and kept his eyes firmly on Cartman, who was late to the office. He never showed up for the day and Kyle tried not to look disappointed as Tim talked about how weird it was that Cartman hadn’t shown up. Before they left for the day, Kyle wrote a note telling Cartman he hoped he was ok and paperclipped it to some papers on his desk for when he came back to the office. The next morning Kyle came into work and Cartman was at his desk, almost like he hadn’t been missing with an air of melancholy over his head and saw a note attached to a folder on his desk as well, included with a paperclip. It read “I’ll get there thank you.” There were no paperclip mishaps that day, and Cartman left at the end of the day quickly, and Kyle found himself wanting to ask why he had looked so sad.

The fourth day Kyle got his answer, as he sat in the breakroom and saw Rosa give Cartman some roses and chocolates, kissing his cheek and offering her condolences. Tim was silent during the exchange, sitting next to Kyle, both feeling lost about what was going on. They got their answer when Charlie, known privately as Gossip Girl, said loudly “Sucks your mom died dude, hope you feel better soon and stuff.” The breakroom was already silent, but it was like collectively the room stopped breathing waiting for Cartman’s reaction. Cartman smiled at Charlie and said, “Thank you, Charlie.” Then got up and walked out of the break room, ten minutes before his break was over. When Kyle returned to his desk Cartman was there and was typing, not thinking too long on it Kyle started writing a note, simply saying that Gossip Girl strikes again.

He formed it into a paper airplane, attached a paperclip to it, figuring it was a thing between them now and threw it towards Cartman. It poked him in the forehead and Kyle snickered as Cartman looked at the airplane and then at him before opening up the letter. The smile Kyle got in return made his heart beat a mile a minute and he felt his face heat up as he buried his head into his computer, finishing up a report he had been putting off. As Kyle was clocking out and gathering his things out of his locker, slugging his lunch box over his shoulder, a letter fell out and Kyle cautiously picked it up, looking around only to find everyone pretty much gone, including Cartman. Kyle opened the letter up, moving his water bottle to under his arm and smiled at what was on it. “Call me sometimes idiot, 555- YOU-SUCK”. Kyle rolled his eyes as he found the real number underneath and pocketed the note into his pocket. Maybe it was time to talk to his antagonist outside of the office. That night while laying in bed Kyle took the note out and sent Cartman a text letting him know it was him and asking if he seriously dropped his number into his locker. 

A few minutes later he received a text back telling him it wasn’t him, it must have been Gossip Girl but he’s not complaining. Kyle resisted the urge to hug his phone to his chest and instead responded asking him how he was doing. Cartman responded that he wasn’t doing that great but he was getting there and was surprised Kyle even cared. Kyle sent back a sticker of an offended cat and informed him that of course, he cared, he was actually getting good work done and that was making Mr. Steinback suspicious, as there hadn’t been a misplaced or unorganized file in quite awhile. Cartman was quick to apologize, assuring that he would be back at ruining Kyle’s reputation in the morning. Kyle took the chance and responded back, telling him good because being perfect was getting boring. They continued texting and Kyle looked up at the time on his phone, shocked to see that it was already twelve am. When he informed Cartman of this he was mocked and told that he was going to stop talking so Kyle the old man could go to bed. 

Kyle responded back with an emoji with its tongue sticking out and put his phone to sleep, setting it aside on his bed and snuggled up under the covers and falling asleep with a smile on his face. The next day Tim was baffled as Kyle and Cartman exchanged paper airplanes across the room, followed by laughter from both of them. One day they went from being bitter enemies to being the best of friends who loved to prank each other. Kyle turned in another file for review, after checking it multiple times and waited while Mr. Steinback nodded his head but frowned when he said “Kyle, why do I have what look like playboy articles in here?”

“What?” Kyle exclaimed, livid as he felt his face heat up and turned around to glare at Cartman who was standing beside him. Cartman put on his best innocent look and said “Kyle I tried to stop you but you were insistent about getting that file to Mr. Stienback. That folder wasn’t met for you or Mr. Stienback but was a collection that my friend Kenny had given me to laugh at, it must have gotten mixed up in my things when I brought them in.”

Kyle glared at him, not believing his story for a second and his jaw dropped when their boss said “I see, a harmless mistake, be careful next time,” he said as he handed the file back to Cartman, accepting the correct one, “Kyle you should follow Cartman’s example, he requests help and owns up to his mistakes without blaming others. If you trusted your coworkers more this incident might not have happened.” 

Kyle bowed slightly and said “Of course sir, I’ll try to be better,” gritting his teeth as he felt Cartman slap him on the back and say “Don’t worry sir, I’ll take him under my wing and show him how to be a pro office worker.” Mr. Stienback nodded and waved them out, looking through the folder and once they were out of his sight Kyle punched Cartman in the arm, hard and ignored the man’s whines that he received. 

“Ok spill, when did you switch the folders?” Kyle asked, folding his arms and glaring at his companion. 

Cartman leaned against the wall and said while crossing his arms with a cocky smile, “Remember when you went to the restroom?”

“No way, Tim would never let you near my desk!”

“You’re right, he wouldn’t but he would let Bebe who was simply offering to take the folder to Mr. Steinback for you, not that she needed an excuse, he was too busy staring to notice anything amiss.”

“What a traitor, I’ll get back at you for this, you can’t play nice all the time,” Kyle said, uncrossing his arms and walking closer to him. 

Cartman met him in the middle and stared intensely at him, neither breaking eye contact as he said “You have no idea how right you are.” He left Kyle there, flushed and uncomfortable, smirking as he went back to his desk. Kyle took a moment to think about other things such as naked old librarians and felt comfortable enough after that, even though he wanted to throw up to sit at his desk, groaning as he saw his paper clip cup was empty. He glared at Cartman who simply smiled and kept typing at his computer. He was interrupted from his glaring by Charlie saying next to him “So did you know Rosa and Mr. Steinbeck are totally dating?” Kyle responded in shock and was engrossed in the gossip within a second. Laying in bed that night after work Kyle thought about how his week at work went. Yeah working in an office with Eric Cartman was weird but Kyle couldn’t remember having as much fun as he had this week, and to think all it took was a paperclip.


End file.
